Driving arrangement for tobacco processing machines



K- KORBER Sept. 23, 1969 DRIVING ARRANGEMENT FOR TOBACCO PROCESSING MACHINES Filed Nov. 25, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.7

Sept. 23, 1969 K. KORBER DRIVING ARRANGEMENT FOR TOBACCO PROCESSING MACHINES Filed Nov. 25, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet L Sept. 23, 1969 K. KORBER 3,468,205

DRIVING ARRANGEMENT FOR TOBACCO PROCESSING MACHINES Filed Nov. 25, 1963 s Sheets-Sheet s Fig. 4

Sept. 23, 1969 K. KORBER 3,468,205

DRIVING ARRANGEMENT FOR TOBACCO PROCESSING MACHINES Filed Nov. 25. 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

REC T/F/ER' A; POWER SUP/ L Y Sept. '23, 1969 K. KORBER 3,468,205

DRIVING ARRANGEMENT FOR TOBACCO PROCESSING MACHINES Filed Nov. 25, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 3 PHASE Poms 2 sup/ .4 r

United States Patent 3,468,205 DRIVING ARRANGEMENT FOR TOBACCO PROCESSING MACHINES Kurt Korber, Pfingstberg 10, Hamburg- Bergedorf, Germany Filed Nov. 25, 1963, Ser. No. 326,290 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Nov. 26, 1962, 44,587/ 62 Int. Cl. B26d 5/08; F16d 67/00, 23/00 US. Cl. 83-543 The present invention relates to tobacco processing machines, particularly to cigarette making machines. More specifically, the invention relates to a driving arrangement for the main shaft or another driven element of a tobacco processing machine.

In modern cigarette making machines, a main shaft is normally driven at two speeds so that the numerous components of the machine may be driven at low speed immediately after starting and at high speed when the machine operates at normal rate of output. Such operation is desirable and necessary because the tobacco distributing, conveying, rod forming, wrapping, adhesive applying, printing, cutting and many other units of the machine must be watched closely when the machine is started in order to avoid waste or damage to moving parts.

Many cigarette making machines known to us at this time are driven by a constant-speed electric motor whose speed corresponds to the average speed of the machine, and the driving arrangement of such conventional machines further comprises a friction brake which is actuated whenever the machine must be operated at lesser speed. Since it is often necessary that the machine be operated at reduced speed for extended periods of time (for example, when the operator must adjust one or more units while the machine is running), a friction brake is not entirely satisfactory because it wears rapidly and generates too much heat.

It is an object of this invention to provide a driving arrangement for the main shaft of a cigarette making machine, and to construct the driving arrangement in such a way that the main shaft may be driven at each of a plurality of speeds for any desired periods of time without causing damage to or overheating of the brake or to the power train which connects the power source with the main shaft.

Another object of the invention is to provide a driving arrangement of the just outlined characteristics which insures gradual acceleration or deceleration of the main shaft and which protects the power source from excessive loads during starting and during shifting into different speeds.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a driving arrangement which will automatically rotate the main shaft or another driven element of the machine at requisite speed, which can be controlled by semiskilled operators in a very simple way, and which may be controlled from several points of the machine so that an operator who supervises certain units of the machine need not waste time in walking back and forth to and from the control elements but is in a position to actuate such control elements while continuing to supervise a given unit of the machine.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a driving arrangement wherein the power train between the power source and the driven element need not include a variable speed transmission but which is nevertheless capable of operating the machine at different speeds.

A further object of the instant invention is to provide a driving arrangement which occupies little space, which 13 Claims 1 can be installed in many types of presently utilized massmanufacturing cigarette machines without necessitating substantial alterations in the construction of such machines, and which may embody means enabling the person or persons in charge to arrest the machine within exceptionally short periods of time to reduce waste when the machine does not operate in the required manner.

A concomitant object of the invention is to provide a driving arrangement which is constructed and assembled 0 in such a way that it automatically ceases to operate the machine when a careless operator exposes a unit or a component part which is likely to cause injury or damage, to construct the driving arrangement in such a way that the main shaft of the machine is automatically disconnected from the prime mover when a knife or a similar dangerous unit is exposed, and to provide a driving arrangement which will automatically arrest the main shaft when a unit which must be shielded for the sake of safety to operators is exposed by accident or due to negligence of the personnel in charge.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a novel power train between the electric'motor or a similar prime mover and the main shaft of a cigarette making machine and to construct the power train in such a way that each of its elements is readily accessible for the purposes of inspection, maintenance, repair and/or replacement.

With the above objects in view, one feature of the invention resides in the provision of a driving arrangement for the main shaft or another driven element of a tobacco processing machine, particularly a continuous rod cigarette making machine. The driving arrangement may comprise an electric motor and a power train including a fluid coupling and serving to connect the output member of the motor with the driven element. If the driving arrangement comprises a constant-speed motor, the power train will include a multi-stage or an infinitely variable speed transmission; on the other hand, if the driving arrangement comprises a multi-speed motor, the transmission may be omitted.

Thus, the invention mainly resides in the provision of a multi-speed motor, in the provision of a fluid coupling, and in the provision of a brake which operates when the driven element is disconnected from the prime mover or when the prime mover is disconnected from a source of energy.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved driving arrangement itself, however, both as to its construction and its mode of operation, together with additional features and advantages thereof, wi'll be best understood from the following detailed description of certain specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a continuous rod cigarette making machine wherein the main shaft is rotated by a driving arrangement embodying one form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail view of the driving arrangement which is shown in FIG. 1 and which comprises a multi-speed motor and a fluid coupling mounted in the power train between the output shaft of the motor and the main shaft of the machine;

FIG. 3 illustrates a modified driving arrangement wherein the power train between a multi-speed electric motor and the main shaft comprises an electromagnetic friction clutch, a portion of the clutch which also serves as a brake being shown in section;

FIG. 4 illustrates a third embodiment of the invention wherein the driving arrangement comprises a constant-speed motor and a multi-stage transmission which drives the main shaft through a fluid coupling, the transmission being shown in section;

FIG. illustrates a fourth embodiment wherein a constantspeed motor drives the main shaft through an infinitely variable speed transmission and a fluid coupling and wherein the main shaft carries an electromagnetic brake, the transmission and the fluid coupling as well as the brake being shown in section;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the electric circuit of the driving arrangement which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and wherein the motor comprises a plurality of separate windings; and

FIG. 7 is a similar diagram of a modified multi-speed motor whose windings form a so-called Dahlander connection.

Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a continuous rod cigarette making machine having a frame 1 whose righthand portion accommodates a driving arrangement for a driven element here shown as a main shaft 2. This main shaft may be rotated by a hand wheel 3, for example, when the operator desires to operate a certain unit in slow motion. A pivotable hood 4 normally conceals the cutting mechanism 32 whose knife 34 rotates with a drive shaft 33 and which serves to sever a continuous cigarette rod into sections of single or double unit length. Such sections are thereupon advanced to a packing machine, to storage or to a filter cigarette machine FC. The reference numeral 5 indicates a locking mechanism which locks the hood 4 in operative position.

At the left-hand end of the frame 1, there is provided a first control panel 6 with a series of control elements 6a-6d in the form of pushbuttons which serve to operate the machine at different speeds or to arrest the main shaft 2. A similar control panel 7 with control elements 7d-7d is provided at the right-hand end of the frame 1. The filter cigarette machine PC is adjacent to the lefthand end of the frame 1. A cigarette machine somewhat similar to the one schematically shown in FIG. 1 is disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,868,211 to Richter et al., and a cutting device of the type which may be used in the machine of FIG. 1 is disclosed in US. Patent No. 3,010,261 to Rudszinat et a1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the driving arrangement for the main shaft 2 includes a prime mover here shown as a three-phase electric motor 8 with change of pole connections. The output shaft 8a of this motor is the input element of a power train including a fluid coupling 9 and a belt and pulley drive comprising a driver pulley 10 which receives motion from the coupling 9, a driven pulley 13 which is mounted on and serves to rotate the main shaft 2, and two endless belts 11, 12 which are trained around the pulleys 10, 13. The construction of the fluid coupling 9 is shown in greater detail in FIG. 5, and it will be noted that this coupling comprises a first torus 9a which (in FIG. 2) is driven directly by the output shaft 8a and a second torus 9b which is driven by the first torus 9a and is directly but detachably coupled to the pulley 10. The motor 8 is mounted on a base 1 which is an element of the frame 1, and this frame further comprises an upright frame member 1a which supports the coupling 9 and the main shaft 2.

The machine of FIG. 1 further comprises a friction brake 14, shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, which serves to rapidly arrest the main shaft 2 and/or to arrest this shaft in a given angular position. The brake 14 comprises a housing 14a secured to the frame member 1a, a disk 14b which is non-rotatably but axially movably supported by the main shaft 2 and Whose end faces are coated with suitable friction generating material, springs 140 or similar elastic elements which produce the braking force, and an electromagnet including an annular armature 14d which is normally rotatable in the housing 14a and is adjacent '4 to one end face of the disk 14b. This electromagnet further comprises an iron core 14c with a coil 14 whose terminals extend into a switch box 14g. The core 14d is secured to the housing 14a.

The armature 14d is biased by the springs 14c to engage t-he disk 14b and to press it against the housing 1411 so that the brake 14 arrests the shaft 2. When the coil 14 is energized, the core 142 attracts the armature 14d which releases the disk 14b.

The motor 8 comprises two sets of windings (see FIG. 6) so that it may be driven at two speeds including a low speed for starting the machine or for operating the machine at less than normal speed and a high speed for normal operation of the machine. In accordance with a modification of our invention, the motor 8 may be replaced by a motor 8', shown in FIG. 7, which comprises a Dahlander connection.

When the machine is started, the operator depresses the pushbutton 6b on the control panel 6 or the pushbutton 7b on the control panel 7 whereby the motor 8 drives the main shaft through the power train including the fluid coupling 9 and the belt and pulley drive 10-13. If the operator notes that all units of the machine operate in the desired manner, he depresses the pushbutton 60 or 7c whereby the motor 8 rotates the output shaft at high speed corresponding to the normal operating speed of the machine. The pushbutton 6d or 7d is depressed when an operator desires to stop the motor 8, and the pushbuttons 6a, 7a serve to initiate rotation of the output shaft 811 at low speed but only for the period of time during which the pushbutton 6a or 7a is depressed. This is called jogging.

Since the brake 14 is effective only when the motor 8 is idle and since this brake automatically releases the shaft 2 as soon as the motor 8 is started and operates at low or high speed, any overheating of the brake is clearly impossible. Also, the motor may operate the machine at low or high speed as long as desired without causing any overheating of the brake since this brake is ineffective when the motor drives the main shaft 2. It is often necessary to operate the machine at low speed for extensive periods of time, and the driving arrangement of my invention provides a very satisfactory solution of this problem because the motor itself constitutes the means for varying the speed of the main shaft.

While it is well known to use fluid couplings in automotive vehicles, the use of such fluid couplings in the driving arrangements of rod cigarette making machines brings about a number of very important and totally unexpected advantages. Thus, the main shaft can be started gradually to avoid overloading of the motor, and such gradual starting is eflected in a fully automatic way, i.e., not with the help of brakes as in conventional machines. All that an operator has to do in order to gradually accelerate the main shaft 2 to low speed or to high speed is to depress one of the pushbuttons 6a-6c or 7a-7c whereby the fluid coupling 9 insures that the acceleration of the shaft 2 is gradual. This is of importance in manufacturing plants Where the cigarette machines are handled by persons having little technical skill. Furthermore, and since the gradual acceleration of the main shaft is carried out in a fully automatic way, the operator need not observe the driving arrangement but may immediately devote his attention to other units of the machine which are prone to malfunction when the machine is started or when the operating speed of the machine is changed from high to low or vice versa.

It is equally important that the main shaft 2 should be arrested immediately upon depression of the pushbutton 6d or 7d. This is made possible by the provision of the brake 14 which becomes effective as soon as the operator depresses the pushbutton 6d or 7d. As will be noted by an inspection of FIG. 6, the pushbutton 6d 01 7d will open the circuit of the coil 14 when the operator arrests the motor 8 so that the braking action of the brake 14 is effective upon the shaft 2 as soon as the circuit of the motor 8 is open. When the shaft 2 is brought to a standstill, the elements of the fluid coupling 9 also come to a halt which is important because the gradual acceleration of the main shaft in response to next depression of one of the pushbuttons 6a-6c or 7a-7c will take place only if the torus 9a or 9b is at a standstill at the time one of these pushbuttons is depressed. In other words, it is necessary that the elements 9a, 9b of the coupling 9 should always begin to rotate from a position of complete standstill to a low speed or to a high speed, depending on which of the pushbuttons is depressed.

The driving arrangement of FIG. 2 which embodies a multi-speed motor and a fluid coupling constitutes an ideal solution in cigarette making machines. It goes without saying that the arrangement of FIG. 2 may be modified by mounting the fluid coupling in the power train between the driven pulley 13 and the main shaft 2.

The hand wheel 3 enables an operator to rotate the main shaft 2 at low speed when the operator desires to remove the knife 34 or when the operator must inspect or replace certain other component parts which are accessible only in certain angular positions of the main shaft.

FIG. 3 illustrates a second driving arrangement wherein the main shaft 2 is driven 'by a two-speed motor 8 corresponding to the one described in connection with FIG. 2. The fluid coupling 9 is replaced by an electromagnetic friction clutch 21 which serves to transmit torque between the driven pulley 13 and the main shaft 2. The pulley 13 is driven by belts 11, 12 which are trained around a driver pulley mounted directly on the output shaft 811.

The clutch 21 also serves as a brake and comprises a first annular clutch element 21a which is non-rotatably secured to the main shaft 2, a second annular clutch element 21b which surrounds the clutch element 21a and whose end faces are provided with annular inserts of friction generating material, and a flexible coupling ring 210 which is recessed into the periphery of the clutch element 21a and into the internal surface of the clutch element 21b. The ring 21c serves to rotate the element 21a in response to rotation of the element 21b and enables the latter to move in the axial direction of the main shaft 2. The second or outer clutch element 21b constitutes the armature of an electromagnet, and this electromagnet includes a first set of iron cores 21d secured to the pulley 13 and a second set of iron cores 21g mounted on or in a carrier 21 fixed to the frame member 1a. The coils of the cores 21d, 21g are respectively shown at 21e, 21h.

The circuit of the coils 212 is completed when the operator starts the motor 8 whereby the cores 21d attract the clutch element 21b and the elastic ring 210 drives the main shaft 2 via clutch element 21a. The same situation prevails when the motor 8 drives the pulley 10 at high (normal speed). When the circuit of the motor 8 is open, the coils 21c are disconnected from but the coils 21h are connected with a source of electrical energy so that the cores 21g attract the clutch element 21b to arrest the main shaft 2. Thus, the cores 21d, 21g are energized alternatively whereby the clutch 21 either serves to drive the main shaft 2 or performs the function of a brake.

The circuit of the coil 21h preferably includes a switch (to be described in connection with FIGS. 6 and 7) which serves to deenergize the cores 21g when the motor 8 is idle and when the operator desires to rotate the main shaft 2 with the help of a hand wheel 3 without being compelled to overcome the braking action which can be produced by energized cores 21g. The circuit of the motor 8 includes a safety switch (to be described in connection with FIGS. 6 and 7) which opens automatically if the hood 4 is not properly locked to the frame 1 so that the motor 8 can be started only if the cutter mechanism 32 is shielded and cannot injure the operator.

In FIG. 4, the main shaft 2 is driven by a constantspeed electric motor 22 through a variable speed transmission 23 which is a multi-stage transmission. The output shaft 22a of the motor 22 drives the input shaft 23e of the transmission 23. A sleeve 23h carries two spaced pinions 23a, 23c and is movable axially of but cannot rotate with respect to the shaft 23e. A second sleeve 23j is rotatable on the sleeve 23h and extends between the gears 23a, 230. This second sleeve carries a pin 23k which is straddled by the bifurcated inner end of a shifting lever 23g whose outer end extends from the casing 23m and which is pivotable on a pin 23h. The pinion 23a is shown in mesh with a pinion 23b on an output shaft 23 which drives a fluid coupling 9. The driving connection between the coupling 9 and the main shaft 2 is the same as described in connection with FIG. 2. The output shaft 23 carries a second pinion 23d which is driven by the pinion 230 if the lever 23g is pivoted in a counterclockwise direction whereby the pinion 23a is disengaged from the pinion 23b. In the position of FIG. 4, the main shaft 2 is driven at low speed. The construction of the transmission 23 is well known and by itself forms no part of the present invention. The shaft 2 is controlled by a brake 14 whose construction is the same as described in connection with FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 5, the main shaft 2 is driven by a constant-speed motor 22 whose output shaft 22a drives the fluid coupling 9 through an infinitely variable speed transmission 24. The input shaft 24a of the transmission 24 carries a first pulley 24bc having a fixed flange 24b and an axially movable flange 240. The output shaft 24d of this transmission carries a second pulley 24ef including a fixed flange 24a and an axially movable flange 24 A V belt 24h is trained around the two pulleys and the speed of the output shaft 24d may be Varied by a lever 24k which is pivotable about a fixed pin 24m in response to rotation of a spindle 24g whereby the flange 24 moves away from the flange Me and the flange 24c moves toward the flange 24b if the lever 24k is pivoted in a clockwise direction so that the rpm. of the output shaft 24d and main shaft 2 increases. The construction of the fluid coupling 9 and of the brake 14 was described in connection with FIG. 2. The first torus 9a of the coupling 9 is driven by the output shaft 24d and the second torus 9b drives the pulley 10 which in turn drives the pulley 13 through a pair of V belts 11, 12.

FIG. 6 illustrates the electric circuit of the driving arrangement which is shown in FIG. 2. The motor 8 is a three-phase A-C multi-speed motor and is connected in circuit with two auxiliary relays 16 and with two control relays including a low-speed relay 17 and a high-speed relay 18. The auxiliary relays 15, 16 may complete the circuit of the coil 14 in the brake 14. Each of the control panels 6, 7 comprises a group of control elements including a first pushbutton 6a, 7a which initiates jogging of the machine (i.e., low-speed operation which is terminated when the pushbutton 6a or 7a is released), a second pushbutton 6b, 7b which initiates low-speed operation, a third pushbutton 60, 7a which initiates high-speed operation, and a stop button 6d, 7a which opens the circuit and stops the motor 8. The auxiliary relays 15, 16 are connected in circuit with a control transformer 30. The control relays 17, 18 are connected directly in the circuit of the three-phase power supply 31.

The connections between the groups of pushbuttons on the control panels 6, 7 are such that a given pushbutton on the panel 6 is inactivated if the operator has depressed the corresponding pushbutton on the panel 7, or vice versa.

The locking mechanism 5 of the hood 4 serves as a switching means to close a normally open safety switch 20 which is in the circuit of the A-C power supply 30 so that the auxiliary relay 15 or 16 and the control relays 17 and 18 can be energized only when the hood is locked in operative position. The hood 4 constitutes a switching member which also controls a normally closed brake releasing switch '19 which closes automatically when the hood is moved away from its operative (shielding) position. Thus, and since the drive shaft 32 which carries the rotary knife 33 of the cutter mechanism 32 is driven by the main shaft 2, see FIG. 1, the cutter mechanism 32 is released in a fully automatic way and the braking member 14d of the brake 14 will set free the main shaft 2 when the hood 4 is lifted. In other words, the brake 14 is not effective in response to movement of the hood 4 away from its operative position and the motor 8 can be started only when the hood 4 is locked in operative position. As a rule, the hood 4 is pivotable about a horizontal aXis to expose the cutter mechanism 32 when it is pivoted upwardly. When an operator must inspect or carry out repairs on the cutter mechanism 32, the shaft 33 of this mechanism (with the knife 34) is released and remains released even though the operator depresses one of the pushbuttons 6a-6c or 7a-7c. This is due to the fact that, in order to gain access to the cutter mechanism 32, the operator not only must release the locking mechanism 5 (to open the safety switch 20) but must lift the hood 4 (to close the switch 19) whereby the knife 34 may be touched without any danger because the motor 8 is disconnected from the source 31.

The manner in which the pushbuttons 6a-6c or 7a-7c will cause the main shaft 2 to be driven at low speed or high speed, and the manner in which the pushbuttons 6d, 7d will stop the motor can be determined by reading the diagram of FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view of a multi-speed motor 8' with windings in Dahlander connection. This motor may replace the motor 8 of FIGS. 1, 2, 3 or 6. The sole difference between the circuits of FIGS. 6 and 7 is that the circuit of FIG. 7 comprises two high-speed relays 18a, 18b.

The advantages of a cigarette making machine with two control panels 6, 7 will be readily understood if one considers that such a machine comprises a large number of units which are mounted at different points of the frame 1. Thus, the distributor 35 which delivers tobacco to the rod forming mechanism is normally located in the median portion of the frame 1, the rod forming mechanism 36 is adjacent to the control panel 7, the wrapping mechanism 37 is located above the distributor 35, the cutter mechanism 32 is nearer to the control panel 6, and the filter cigarette machine PC is adjacent to the left-hand end of the frame 1, as viewed in FIG. 1, so that it is nearer to the control panel 6. Consequently, an operator who has detected an inaccuracy in the operation of the filter cigarette machine FC and stands near to the hood 4 is in a position to immediately arrest the cigarette making machine by depressing the pushbutton 6d on the control panel 6. On the other hand, an operator watching the rod forming mechanism 36 will be able to reach the pushbuttons of the control panel 7. There are many other units which are driven by the main shaft 2, such as the feeding mechanism which delivers a web of cigarette paper to the rod forming mechanism 37, the adhesive applying mechanism for the web, the splicing mechanism, the mechanism which returns excess to bacco to the distributor 35, the equalizing device which removes excess tobacco from the tobacco rod, and others.

It is often necessary to arrest the machine or to change the operating speed of the main shaft 2 without any delay. If the machine is provided with a single group of control elements, i.e., with one control panel, great damage might be done to one or more units before the operator standingnear the filter cigarette machine FC would be able to reach the control panel 7 or before an operator inspecting the rod forming mechanism would be able to reach the control panel 6. Therefore, the provision of two (or even more) groups of control elements constitutes a very important improvement in machines of the type to which this invention pertains.

In all embodiments of the driving arrangement which is shown in FIGS. 1 to '7, the electric motor and the power train together constitute an assembly which is arranged to drive the main shaft 2 or another driven element at two or more speeds.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic and specific aspects of this invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

-1. In a tobacco processing machine, particularly in a rod cigarette machine, a combination comprising a driven element; a multispeed driving arrangement for rotating said driven element, said arrangement comprising a rotary output member and a power train connecting said output member with said driven element, said power train comprising an automatic coupling arranged to rotate said driven element at a plurality of speeds; and a plurality of groups of control elements operatively connected with and arranged to control the operation of said driving arrangement, said groups of control elements being located at spaced points of said machine and each of said groups including a first control element arranged to initiate rotation of said driven element at a first speed, a second control element arranged to initiate rotation of said driven element at a second speed, and a third element arranged to initiate stoppage of said driven element.

2. In a rod cigarette machine. in combination, a driven element; a driving arrangement comprising a variable-speed electric motor having an output shaft and a power train including a fluid coupling and connecting said output shaft with said driven element, said motor and said power train together forming an electrical assembly which is arranged to drivesaid element at different speeds; a brake comprising a braking member normally operative to engage said driven element when said motor is idle, electromagnetic means connected with said motor and arranged to disengage said braking member from said driven element when said motor is started so that said driven element is automatically released and may be driven when said motor is started, a normally closed switch connected with said electromagnetic means, and a switching member movable between a first position in which it opens said switch and a second position in which said switch is free to complete the circuit of said electromagnetic means so that said braking member engages said driven element in response to movement of said switching member to said second position in response to starting of said motor.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 2, wherein said machine further comprises a cutter mechanism and Wherein said switching member is a hood which shields said cutter mechanism in said first position thereof.

4. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said automatic coupling is a fluid coupling.

5. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said power train further comprises a variable speed transmission and wherein said output member forms part of an electric motor.

6. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said power train further comprises a variable speed transmission and wherein said coupling is interposed between said transmission and said driven element.

7. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said output member forms part of a variable-speed electric motor.

8. A combination as defined in claim 1, further comprising a brake for said driven element.

9. A combination as defined in claim 8, wherein said brake is a spring-biased electromagnetic 'barke.

10. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said output member forms part of an electric motor and further comprising a normally open safety switch connected with said motor and switching means movable between a first position in which said safety switch is closed and a second position in which said safety switch is free to open the circuit of said motor so that the motor may be started only in the first position of said switching means.

11. A combination as defined in claim 10, wherein said electric motor is a variable-speed motor.

12. In a tobacco processing machine, particularly in a rod cigarette machine, in combination, a driven element; and a driving arrangement comprising a variable-speed electric motor, a power train including a fluid coupling and connecting said motor with said driven element and forming with said motor an assembly which is arranged to drive said element at a plurality of speeds, and a plurality of groups of control elements connected in circuit with and arranged to control the operation of said assembly, said groups of control elements being located at spaced points of said machine and each of said groups including a first control element arranged to initiate operation of said assembly at a first speed, a second control element arranged to initiate operation of said assembly at a second speed, a third control element arranged to initiate stoppage of said assembly, and a fourth control element arranged to initiate operation of said assembly at one of said speeds in response to and for the duration of manual actuation of the respective fourth control element.

13. A combination as set forth in claim 12, wherein the circuit of said control elements comprises means for inactivating at least one control element in one of said groups in response to manual actuation of a control element in another group.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS JAMES M. MEISTER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

1. IN A TOBACCO PROCESSING MACHINE, PARTICULARLY IN A ROD CIGARETTE MACHINE, A COMBINATION COMPRISING A DRIVEN ELEMENT; A MULTISPEED DRIVING ARRANGEMENT FOR ROTATING SAID DRIVEN ELEMENT, SAID ARRANGEMENT COMPRISING A ROTARY OUTPUT MEMBER AND A POWER TRAIN CONNECTING SAID OUTPUT MEMBER WITH SAID DRIVEN ELEMENT, SAID POWER TRAIN COMPRISING AN AUTOMATIC COUPLING ARRANGED TO ROTATE SAID DRIVEN ELEMENT AT A PLURALITY OF SPEEDS; AND A PLURALITY OF GROUPS OF CONTROL ELEMENTS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED WITH AND ARRANGED TO CONTROL THE OPERATION OF SAID DRIVING ARRANGEMENT, AND GROUPS OF CONTROL ELEMENTS BEING LOCATED AT SPACED POINTS OF SAID MACHINE AND EACH OF SAID GROUPS INCLUDING A FIRST CONTROL ELEMENT ARRANGED TO INITIATE ROTATION OF SAID DRIVEN ELEMENT AT A FIRST SPEED, A SECOND CONTROL ELEMENT ARRANGED TO INITIATE ROTATION OF SAID DRIVEN ELEMENT AT A SECOND SPEED, AND A THIRD ELEMENT ARRANGED TO INITIATE STOPPAGE OF SAID DRIVEN ELEMENT. 